Small Truths
by WrittenSmitten
Summary: Inquisitor/Grey Warden Aeva Celena Lavellan, finds herself under the wrongful control of darkspawn/magister Corypheus and foils his plan when she interrupts his sacrifice of Divine Justinia at the Conclave. Upon falling out of the fade, she should be able to tell the Seeker and Lady Nightingale that the wardens are in trouble, but a larger threat remains: The Breach.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

-Hear My Call-

There was a stir within his blood

And the dreams lay thick upon him.

A call did beat within his heart.

One road was left before him.

—Codex entry: Shred of Blue

* * *

 _Aeva? Aeva you must open your ears. Your eyes too, for that matter. We don't have much time. The Calling is deafening your spirit. Your soul._

 _You must awake._

Aeva Celena Lavellan was certain about a familiar voice talking to her. And yet, she was also certain about the whispers, those which seemed louder to her than a screaming voice. Her mind was overcast with what could only be The Calling. She could hear the legendary song, tantalizing and terrifying all at once. It filled her with both dread and a sense of fulfilled duty. The Calling could only mean one thing: her time as a Grey Warden was coming to an early end. It consumed her thoughts making her obsolete to the world. It was so compelling that she could hardly question why it was taking her so young.

 _Think about where you are, Aeva. You're a Grey Warden. You are a mage. Why are you here?_

That was a great question. She pondered the muffled, desperate voice trying to get through to her. Why was she here amidst a temple full of mages and templars? Why was she in a temple meant for the center of negotiations? Why was the Divine—Divine Justinia—being restrained by that . . . Thing? A faint hint of duty harbored within Aeva echoed against the Calling.

A part of her knew this was the Conclave.

A part of her knew something was wrong.

A part of her ignored it.

 _Aeva, recognize me. Anders. Your friend. Someone you probably hate now after Kirkwall. I don't have much time Aeva. I only came here to make you awake. To get you to stop this. So do it. Stop it._

 _Be their guide._

 _Right my wrongs._

 _Tell Hawke . . . Tell her I am sorry._

 _The Divine needs you now, Aeva._

It was a voice she thought to be long dead, passed on in an explosion at the will of his own madness. And yet, here he was, talking to her as a spirit. Begging her to awake. She did not feel asleep, though. Aeva, if anything, felt compelled by the song seeping through the veins in her body. She had heard nothing like it. She had felt nothing like it.

She had been gifted with a song to overlay any thoughts crawling to the surface of her mind. Thoughts of wrongness and fear were muffled.

It was all hidden with the Calling.

Her heartbeat soon mimicked the song and she felt ready to die.

She felt ready to surrender her life as a Grey Warden.

 _Ba dum . . . Ba dum . . . Ba dum . . ._

"Now is the hour of our victory," a strong voice boomed.

 _Ba dum . . . Ba dum . . ._

Aeva knew his voice well.

"Why are you doing this, you of all people?"

 _Ba dum . . ._

The song of the Calling was thinning. Aeva did not know whether she wanted to hang on to it or let it go. A voice in the distance was afraid and Aeva felt guilty. She felt responsible for the cry of terror sounding in the distance.

 _Ba bump . . ._

But she was afraid, wasn't she?

She should have been.

"I am . . ." Aeva started to speak feeling as if she had just awoken from a long sleep.

"Someone help me!"

That voice, strained and afraid, muted Aeva's song, Aeva's Calling. It came from the mouth of Divine Justinia.

Aeva, with a renewed self-awareness, blinked and the room around her flooded her previously suppressed senses. She did not know why she was surrounded by her fellow Grey-Wardens or why they in turn surrounded a captured Divine. Aeva especially did not know why that Thing was here, holding up a glowing orb at the Divine.

Corypheus, the name hummed through her mind.

He was everything: a darkspawn, a magister, a monster all in one.

She was disgusted with herself as memories became clear, memories of following Corypheus' will. In this moment, she found herself standing at his left. For days, for months, for nights he had liked to keep Aeva close and near to him.

When he moved, she moved.

Such as it was.

"What's going on here?" Aeva said when she found her voice.

The Grey Wardens, her friends, all looked at her in unison as if she broke a communal silence. It stopped Corypheus in his tracks. Aeva, his favorite of the Grey Wardens, had spoken out of turn.

Aeva, staring at him, did not know amongst the anomaly of his body, of his mouth, whether he was surprised or enraged.

In this moment, Divine Justinia knocked the orb from Corypheus to Aeva.

When it touched her hand, she could not let it go.

And all at once, she was engulfed by a blinding glow.

In the distance, she could hear the remnants of the Calling as it was becoming lost to her.

Aeva Celena Lavellan's time as a Grey Warden was not over just yet.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

-Awakening-

As the moth sees light and goes toward flame,

She should see fire and go towards Light.

The Veil holds no uncertainty for her,

And she will know no fear of death, for the Maker

Shall be her beacon and her shield, her foundation and her sword.

—Transfigurations 10:1, often sung by mourners as they light candles

* * *

When she awoke, Aeva felt less like a Grey Warden and more like a prisoner. She was sure it had something to do with chains surrounding her wrists. The metal greedily drew blood from her skin and struggling only made it worse. She had not felt so immobile since the day of her joining. That day, years ago, Aeva almost failed to pull through when the dark-spawn blood drained down her throat. Back then, she was sure that her life would end with her laying on the floor, listening to a dwarf burp near her as he drank the dark-spawn blood like it was an fresh pint of ale from the local tavern.

Aeva's life as a Warden had started in Amaranthine with the Hero of Ferelden, Mahariel, and now Aeva was sure it would end here in a dark, moldy old prison.

 _What happened?_ She thought.

Aeva tried to think back upon minutes, hours, and days ago. Her memories were hidden like the Fade was hidden by the Veil. She couldn't picture anything other than a green hot light. And in that moment, her hand glowed in response to her faded memory. It pained her as if it were a combination of poison, daggers, and boiling water.

"Why?" She grunted. _How_?

When the pain subsided, she noticed that the four guards surrounding her had their swords all pointed towards her. She could only see three of the swords while the fourth one poked charmingly at the back of her neck, ready to kill. One soldier met her eyes, and Aeva realized he was afraid and tired. His hand shook, barely gripping the base of his sword. He was young too, and so Aeva decided not to speak. A part of her was invoking fear in the boy, and she did not want it to become worse. Although, she did want to know why he was afraid. What had she done?

 _What is this mark?_

The soldiers seemingly calmed down when two women strode through the door. They sheathed their swords and stood back into the shadows, looming and watchful as they were. Aeva took the sight of the women in. One had short hair and a walk similar to a soldier. The other swayed her hips with the confidence and grace of a bird. They, in turn, regarded Aeva as a threat even though she was clearly chained without potential of escape.

It was unnerving. As a Grey Warden she was used to judgmental stares. This was different, though.

One of the women decided to circle around Ava and when she spoke, Aeva grimaced at the sound.

"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now. The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead." It was a powerful statement, one filled with the aftermath of fate and death.

"Except for me," Aeva filled in. She was able to recall a vague memory of orders telling her group to attend the Conclave. She was specifically told that they should stay unseen. Had the Grey Wardens betrayed Thedas? Where were her comrades? Her friends?

"You think I'm responsible," Aeva concluded. She felt as if she was thinking out loud rather than answer the woman's questions.

The Hero of Ferelden had told Aeva that she would die some day in the deep roads, fulfilling her last and final duty, killing hordes of darkspawn. And now, Aeva could only think that her Hero was wrong. She would die here, unknowing what chaos she had caused in the world.

* * *

Aeva eventually decided that she was wrong as well. The women she came to know as Cassandra and Leliana did not kill her in a prison cell. They did not kill her when they found out she was a Grey Warden. They didn't even kill her when she closed a breach in front of that mage and dwarf. Solas and Varric. Aeva could recall their names easily, but she could not recall how that green mark got on her hand.

As moments passed, Aeva felt more aware of how much she did not know. It bothered her that she did not know how she was connected to the hole in the sky, and she could only feel like it was somehow her fault.

Anytime she looked up into the sky, she felt as if its powerful pulse matched her own. It was familiar to her, and that familiarity could only induce fear into Avea's heart.

And so, it was odd when she woke up alive, in Haven.

She could sometimes feel the darkspawn blood flowing swiftly in her veins. She could feel the taint that would some day take her away. But for now, Aeva could only wonder why she lived when she should have died a hundred times. It reminded her of Mahariel. She had been the Hero of Ferelden.

Alone in her cabin, Aeva wondered if she could eventually be another hero of this land so greatly in need of peace.


End file.
